I’ve been having a lot of fun knitting patchwork quilts, using up scraps of yarn and learning new stitches, and think it would make a fun knit-along. The premise is simple; you knit and bind off a block, then pick up stitches along one edge with a new yarn, and knit another block using a different stitch. If you’ve ever wanted to make a blanket or pillow top, but find yourself getting bored or losing steam halfway thru, this is a great way to hold your interest. You can make the squares as big or small as you like, and even the most deliberate knitter can easily finish a square in a weekend. You get the satisfaction of completing something in very rewardingly short intervals. If you’ve ever spent time page thru a stitch pattern book, or been intimidated by the Barbara Walker Treasuries – this is a great way to get in some practice before you commit to doing a huge expanse of dragon scale or pinecone eyelet. Don’t like the way a square is shaping up? It’s easy as pie to rip it out and try another. (I’m a nervous Nellie about frogging back a few rows!) If you hate to sew up seams, this has the advantage of breaking that process down into manageable pieces; you simply sew up one side of the square as you go. If I had to sew long strips of seams, stuff would stay in my knitting box for a long time, but even I can manage to sew up 6-7 inches at a time. Plus it’s a great way to use up all those small balls of yarn we all seem to accumulate. As with traditional patchwork, it’s fun to look back over the finished project and see the yarn you used in your first scarf, or the cool hat you made for your brother in law. You can commit to any size project you want, from pillow top to blanket – or just knit as long as you want. (My first scrappy project was a crib quilt with some crazy angles. My latest was a 72”x56” blanket for my niece.) You can buy a few color-coordinated skeins to start, or simply use up what you have on hand.If people are interested in knitting along, I can post a few stitches of varying complexities on a regular basis – one stitch a week? Three stitches every fortnight? – and we can work on them together. Or other people can post their new favorite stitches. The more the merrier, and there’s a whole world of cool stitches out there!I have some birthday projects to wrap up this week, but I’m looking forward to starting some pillow shams soon. Let me know if you’re interested in making this a knit-along – it’d be great to have some virtual knitting buddies!

I would think that if you're doing the squares separately, you ccould mix and match. For people picking up stitches I'd recommend similar weight -- altho' I had a couple of squares that were double-stranded sock yarn.

A bigger issue would be making sure that, if it's a project that will be washed, like a blanket or pillow, that the yarns all have the same care instructions.

I am totally up for this! Maybe it should be in the regular craft-along section. Since I have been using a nice wool yarn lately, I am going to go ahead and buy a few skeins of co-ordinating colors. I have a booklet to use, and other references as well. I'm totally willing to share! Later, I'll post a color swatch I made for my girlfriend. I made her go thru my embroidery floss, and choose her colors. We did this sitting in a parking lot prior to a decorating shopping trip. I am thinking of using her colors, and making it for her!

Yep! Except, I was reading the info in that section, and the moderator, using the knitting board as an an example; said to stay in that sections craftalong board, as long as there was one representing that board. So I think we need to stay here!

I'll be away from the computer this weekend, but I'll be ready to start Monday. I'll post my yarn (I'm going with a blue and cream color scheme, for the "Scandinavian" bedroom) and a couple of the stitches I really got to like with Scrappy.

Just another hour of knitting and I'm done with tomorrow's birthday present -- time for another project to start!

I'm hoping to cast on for this tonight. I've got a couple different yarns set aside to choose from and Barbara Walker's first Treasury of Knitting Patterns that my most awesome husband surprised me with. Not sure which pattern I want to start with, though. There's just so many, and there's still three more books in the set!